Hello people, and welcome back to Highschool of the Dead: Resurrection. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas day, or even a Merry Christmas month, I sure did. Anyway...the group's at a military base now, they have power, and who-knows-what-else, not to mention a mystery to solve...so let's see which page they take out of Scooby-Doo's book.
In the morning, the four ladies each took a shower together...and this time their only concern was cleaning; Shizuka and Saya were still traumatized, if you can call it that, from the first time they showered during the apocalypse. Alice's presence by default dissuaded any raunchy behavior of course; she joined them with Shizuka helping her wash up, since she was the closest thing to a mother Alice had...even if her breasts were big enough to put Alice's face in danger of getting struck whenever Shizuka moved too quickly.
Three of the four men stayed outside waiting for the ladies to finish; Masato was nowhere to be found since the base still needing to be investigated. When the ladies came out...they were eyeballed by both Kohta and Takashi, with Itachi being so disinterested in lusting after a group of women he had no attachment to that he continued resting on his bunk. Kohta and Takashi could not say the same; Shizuka was a complete bombshell practically by nature, Rei was of course the one for Takashi, Saya was Kohta's crush since Day One...because reasons, and Saeko may not have had a figure as off-the-scale as Shizuka's, but her sex appeal was no worse regardless. Once the ladies noticed, Saya just begrudgingly continued her routine, Rei smirked in Takashi's direction, as did Saeko, and Shizuka simply kept Alice close.
Kohta and Takashi had their turn to wash up, with Itachi continuing to rest; he made it pretty clear the group had almost no room for him and there wasn't going to be much warm water left for a few hours anyway. In addition to that, there could be another serious task around the corner, and Itachi could need a shower later on. In the meantime, he had an exercise routine to go through, which included doing push-ups with his feet resting on the bed with his legs straight and crossed, and his fists supporting his upper body. He then used his lower abdomen to raise his legs off the ground over and over, did several squats, then finished up with an almost full-split, then did a few side-splits before finally putting his legs together and pushing himself up.
Eventually, the two men in the shower finished up, and they came out just in time to hear a plane fly overhead, and then drop off a crate of supplies that came down via parachute into the city.
"Ah...just in time." Itachi said before grabbing his bow and quiver and heading to the door.
"I'm coming too." Saeko said.
"Forget it." Itachi said.
"This isn't debatable." Saeko said.
"You're right, it's not debatable. I'm going alone." Itachi said.
"That's not what I meant." Saeko said.
"Well it's what I meant! I've done countless missions by myself and I don't need some bitch with a blade shadowing me!" Itachi snapped before slamming the door on the way out.
"Well he's in a good mood..." Rei said.
"He'll get ahold of himself." Saeko said.
"Saeko, he just called you a bitch..." Takashi said seriously.
"He's just venting, and if he wants to go out on his own, let him." Saeko said.
"How the fuck do you put up with him?" Saya asked.
"He's causing his own suffering in the end; I don't need to seek revenge." Saeko said.
"Still, there's only so much one person can take." Takashi said.
"And Itachi will pay attention to that if he knows what's good for him, which from the look of things...he doesn't." Saeko said seriously.
Meanwhile, Masato was still searching the base for zombies, or anything useful, but there were still no zombies. However, thanks to the superior lighting, and the fact he was better-rested, he was able to look into the rest of the base...including the hospital, mess hall, and even a second armory, and a motor pool with a handful of Stryker APCs all of which he would tell the others about later on. For now, he was going to recheck the command center...which was just as deserted as the rest of the base.
The good Corporal searched the entire command center from one end to another, then once he found out there really were no zombies, he turned on the power and booted every computer he could. His first priority were the cameras so he could possibly get a view of whatever happened at the base. Luckily, they were all perfectly fine...but nothing noteworthy happened; everything was operating smoothly, and everyone was doing normal military business.
However...when he fast-forwarded the recordings...he noticed one officer struggling to keep his composure, and then got rushed to the hospital. A few hours into the recording, Masato saw that everyone was rushed out of the command center, and the rest of the cameras revealed that the rest of the base wasn't much better. It turned out the officer that was staggering because he was bitten, and the rest of the base was evacuated...instead of staying to fight the infection...
"Cowards..." Masato growled; there was no excuse for the base to be evacuated, even if it was a small base, which as it turns out, it wasn't, there were more than enough soldiers to fight a handful of zombies. Whoever abandoned this base had better be ready to explain themselves if he ever saw them. For now, his priority was finding out what happened, so he checked the rest of the command center, before he went back to the hospital to check a theory; the officer who was bitten was taken there afterall...
But the body wasn't there; there was no grave dug, no evidence that the body was destroyed, such as ashes in a crematorium of some sort, or even an explosion that could have been used to destroy the body. Eventually...after following a small but noticeable blood trail, everything was explained...
Masato found a body with a massive hole in the top of the head, as well as under the chin, and a bite mark on the upper arm. No wonder the body was never found, or why the base was evacuated: the person who was bitten fled, found a Desert Eagle, and committed suicide with it. Maybe the base wasn't full of cowards afterall...
Unsurprisingly, Masato took the Desert Eagle off the dead body; he needed it infinitely more urgently than a dead man. The clip was only missing one bullet thanks to it's previous user, but other than that, it was perfectly usable. No jam, no damaged hammer, no chipping on the grip, nothing. He then went to look at the command center again, and found several scraps of intelligence gathered by the base's personal on the computers, as well as the base commander's office, and then left to tell the group what he had learned...
"So let me get this straight: they had a case where an officer, a key member of their staff, was bitten by a zombie, which they know is a disaster waiting to happen, and instead of either giving it a possible treatment, he decided to hide his infection until it was too late, and then blew his own brains out with a Desert Eagle that he got from...somewhere...?" Saya said.
"Maybe he was too dedicated to the cause for his own good." Saeko said.
"And when they saw he was missing, they must have decided to not take any chances, and flee the base." Takashi said.
"That's quite likely. I found the body in a pretty far-removed area." Masato said.
"And how exactly did you not get your hands on this kind of information before meeting us? I mean, I know you've been busy slaughtering zombies, and that's...pretty damn awesome, but surely someone would've tried to contact you about this event at your home base and ask you to come back." Rei asked.
"I'm only a Corporal." Masato said.
"How can you say that so casually?" Rei asked in awe.
"Regardless of what happened, I made plenty of discoveries in this base that you should all be interested in." Masato said.
"Such as?" Kohta asked...before going ballistic at the sight of the secondary arsenal Masato found. The place was filled with all kinds of guns, from Uzis, to M4s, like Masato's, to SCARs of both the light and heavy versions, to multiple types of pistols...including the Glock 19. Masato even tested one of the lighter versions of the SCAR, and swapped his M4 for it...by tossing it to the side.
"What did you toss it for?" Takashi asked.
"It's worn; I needed to retrieve a new gun, and I might as well use one of these SCARs instead." Masato said simply.
"Why not just take another M4?" Takashi asked.
"Because from where I'm standing, the SCAR is superior." Masato said.
"With all due respect sir, the M4 has more fans than the SCAR, and for good reason." Kohta said.
"The M4 is more numerous, but that counts for only so much." Masato said.
"Hey, they even have ammo for my Springfield." Rei said before checking an ammo box, and looking over the contents.
"But you don't know how to shoot it." Takashi said.
"So? We're in the perfect place for me to learn aren't we?" Rei asked.
"True, and this time, you get to see the difference between a Springfield and an Ak-47." Takashi said and Rei looked right at him while shaking her head.
"You are never going to let me live that down are you?" She asked, and Takashi returned her smile.
"No...way..." Kohta breathed out after opening a case.
"What?" Takashi asked...and Kohta took out what he saw.
"Do you know what this is?" He asked.
"It's an M32 grenade launcher." Masato said.
"Of course you would know...sir, but still. How lucky can we get?" Kohta asked seriously.
"Is it really all that?" Rei asked and Kohta raised an eyebrow at her.
"My good miss, this baby can hold no less than six grenades, and can shoot two of them every second, if the user is good enough." Kohta said.
"Hand it over." Masato said seriously.
"You don't have to tell me. I almost don't feel worthy of that...beautiful piece of artillery." Kohta said as he gave it to Masato, who checked another case, and found a bunch of scopes and another attachments...including grenade launcher attachments for his SCAR, and maybe some M4s, as well as more bayonets.
Meanwhile, Itachi was heading straight through the outskirts of the city to get to the supplies, all the while, reflecting on how things have gone for him. Ever since he met the group, everything has been going downhill; he got one earful after another from them, especially Saeko, he had to share weeks worth of supplies, and even watched his home burn down, all thanks to them. Why did he even bother helping them? What have they done for him in return for what he did for them besides aggravate him needlessly?
Then there's Masato...not only is he the one who burned his home down, all to get revenge on the zombies...at his expense, but he's also a giant middle finger to everything Itachi does when in the field. There's no visible plan, no tact, and especially no silence. It was nothing short of amazing that Masato was still alive, despite being a full-fledged soldier. Well...Itachi was not going to follow in his footsteps, that was for certain...even if he outclassed him as the one who's supposed to the one who's the best at killing zombies.
Now here he was going to retrieve another crate...and this is after the entire group has the balls to make fun of him over something he lost! Just who do they think they are?! If that's the case, why not just keep whatever he finds for himself and then give to them after it's needed, maybe then he'll get some respect...or he could just cool his rage on whatever zombies he finds and think things through afterwards. Whatever the case may be, there's no way anyone was going to outclass him in what he specializes in, and this mission was going to prove it...
Once he got to where he was going, he immediately noticed some zombies...and then saw heard gunfire, and then the dozens of zombies around the crates of supplies dropped like flies, despite the people firing at them clearly having no idea how to use guns properly. He might look down on guns for being too loud, and requiring less skill to use than a bow...but even then, these outlaws weren't even trying to use their guns right. They clearly weren't soldiers; they were street thugs.
When the large-scale, yet boring massacre was done, Itachi then saw the outlaws come down the street, laughing, and applauding.
"Scratch one street full of dead assholes!" One of them said.
"Yeah, get fucked!" Another yelled.
"Speaking of which, after this food run, I'm so taking one of those whores and giving her a good fucking." Another said.
"Big surprise..." The first outlaw said.
"Hey, we just killed a hundred zombies at once, I so deserve some loving." The third outlaw said.
"Like any of them would want to get dick from you." A fourth outlaw said.
"They'll take it, whether they like it or not." The third outlaw said.
"Right..." The fourth outlaw said before a fifth one used a radio.
"Zero? Bring the car through. The shitstorm's over." He said, and then the outlaws marched through the street to reach the supplies and waited for the car that was rolling down the street. The group then started preparing the supplies for loading, with three of them fanning out to search for zombies...then Itachi moved out.
One outlaw actually moved too far out, and once he was out of sight to pee...he took an arrow through the back of his head. Itachi then took the arrow back, and hide the body. He then watched the other ones, and noticed the other two outlaws were searching an area out of each other's line-of-sight, so Itachi relocated accordingly. He then threw a brick at an area near one of the outlaws, and when he went to check it out, he took an arrow through his head as well. The last outlaw separate from the group went to check on the first dead outlaw...and found his body just in time to take an arrow through his head.
"Now for Zero..." Itachi breathed out before making Zero take an arrow to the head, then hiding his body in the car's open trunk...then eyeballing the last one, who was now easy prey.
"Hey Masashi, you find Kishi yet? Masashi? Masa-" Itachi cuts the last outlaw off with an arrow through his leg and making him scream in pain. He then spotted Itachi who walked out and then the last outlaw limped away as quickly as he could and Itachi simply watched before walking off. The last outlaw continued limping away in panic, while keeping an eye out for Itachi...then found one of his dead comrades and his fear picked up even more; how long has this guy been dead? Then it dawned on him: this archer was hunting them, and probably killed all four of his comrades...but how long was he following them?
Eventually, Itachi came out of nowhere, and tackled the outlaw from the side with enough force to make him dent the side of a car and dislocate his shoulder, which made him yell in pain again. He then looked up at Itachi who was smiling down at him with his bow in one hand, and the other hand on his hip.
"Hi." Itachi said casually.
"Who the fuck are you?!" The outlaws snapped and Itachi knelt down to his level.
"You seriously don't know who I am?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Never fucking mind...!" The outlaw growled before Itachi rips the arrow out of his leg and the outlaw's scream falls on deaf ears again.
"Let's see if this rings a bell: archer extraordinaire, asshole that hunts other assholes...the guy who just picked off your friends!?" Itachi said.
"You...!" The outlaw growled.
"Yes, me, Itachi Fujinaga, with a grand total of 18 confirmed kills...about to be 19." Itachi said before chuckling, then eyeballed the angry man he injured. "You know...I would just put an arrow through your head and call it a day like I did with your friends but...I've had a really bad day so far, and this is the only way I can think of to blow off steam. I'm sure you understand; I just overheard you imply that you're not above rape, which is...a pretty damn low bar to step over for a man like me. In other words: I couldn't be further above you..."
"This is not going to end well for you-" Itachi cuts the outlaw off.
"This is not going to end well for you, yeah I know. In fact..." Itachi trailed off as he looked away at some approaching zombies. "Hey, look who's here..."
"What the-!? Hey, get me out of here. Don't leave me with those things!" The outlaw exclaimed as Itachi backed off.
"Why? You're the one who made all the noise. It's one of many reasons I don't use guns...in fact, Hell will freeze over first..." Itachi said before sitting on a short wall with his legs crossed as the zombies approached the terrified and heavily wounded outlaw.
"You're a monster! You're a fucking monster!" The outlaw yelled and Itachi snickered.
"Well isn't that a pot calling a kettle black..." He said and then watched the outlaw get mauled by the zombies before entering the car full of supplies, and after a brief trial run, he drove off towards the military base with the goods.
Back at the base, Rei was with Kohta taking advantage of the peace, and the environment especially to learn about shooting her Springfield. At first, the recoil was a pain to get used to, and even though she was much more robust than she was before the apocalypse thanks to all the training and fighting she's had to do, she couldn't see herself firing her Springfield very often, even with the new scope she got her hands on.
On the flip side...the range and power of her rifle spoke for itself; Kohta's sniper rifle could pierce multiple zombie heads in a row, and Rei's Springfield could easily do the same thing, at least in theory. Logically, she took a page out of Saeko's book and used a Glock for backup; if one of them could have a handgun, why couldn't the other? Rei and Saeko even had a minor contest, and even though Saeko had more experience, it was still a fairly-even match with Saeko winning by only a couple of points...which didn't surprise anyone.
Masato meanwhile threw Shizuka a bone by helping her figure out how to use one of the APCs around the base, as well as figure it out himself; he may have seen one used before, but he never did it himself. In Shizuka's case, well, she drove a bus at least once, so handling an APC at least felt somewhat familiar. Masato then went to check out the command center again, and Shizuka went to find Alice.
The little girl in question was with Zeke, as well as Takashi and Kohta as they watched Rei give her new gun skills a whirl. Takashi in particular was proud of her; nevermind how far their relationship went, Rei herself witnessed the death of the man who indirectly drove a wedge between herself and Takashi, she finally learned to use her gun the way it should be used, and she was beaming like the little girl she used to be. She deserved the time in the spotlight she was getting as much as someone could.
Next thing they knew, a car was driving through the checkpoint, and it was full of supplies. To their surprise, Itachi was the driver...
"Itachi?" Takashi asked.
"The one and only." Itachi said as casually as ever.
"Where were you?" Takashi asked, and Itachi looked at him in awe.
"Where the fuck do you think I was?!" He asked.
"I meant, what took you so long." Takashi said.
"And why do you have a car?" Rei asked.
"I'm going to answer both questions at once: None of your fucking business. Now shut up and eat." Itachi said before opening the trunk and grabbing some food before walking off. He then opened a box and nibbled on some. "This is tasty..."
Lolz, our man Itachi brutally murders some outlaws to vent his rage and then says something out of left field. Anyway...hell of a training session just now eh? Plus this Scooby-Doo-esque mystery had a chunk blown out of it. And yes, Rei is getting development she DESPERATELY needs, plus that Ak-47 reference is one I had to do; for those unaware; she mistook a sniper rifle for an Ak-47 in the anime...I don't know if that was an oversight, or if she's just that clueless, but whatever. Anyway, there's of course more to this than the chapter showed, so be sure to Rate, Review, and Share and of course, stay tuned.